The Other Side of the Door

You remember that Lucy thought it would be worthwhile (though her siblings did not) to try the door of the big wardrobe which was in an otherwise empty room in the professor’s sprawling country residence in England. I’m referring to C.S. Lewis’ book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The four children were exploring the house on a rainy day. However, it was Lucy’s sense that the wardrobe was worthy of exploration that changed her life as well as her sibling’s lives. Young Lucy was given wonder-filled uncommon sense.

God offers this wonder-filled uncommon sense to us, if we will but open the door and let Him come to us!  Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).

There is an old wardrobe in your heart and in mine. It is your soul and spirit, my soul and spirit. It is the real me, my immaterial identity that is eternal.  Jesus invites Himself to enter my wardrobe, my inner home and world — if I will open my door. Like Narnia, my inner world is parallel to earth’s visible world but separate from it. It is within this inner world that I know God personally. The rest that He offers is rest for the interior world of the real me.  It is here that I talk with God and He with me.

In Ruth Myers’ prayer book, 31 Days of Praise, she (assisted by her husband) presents 31 prayers and also some useful teaching on growing intimately with Christ. This is a tender, little book that I’d recommend you purchase for yourself and buy extras to give to others. She puts into words many of our hopes, anxieties, and needs, along with words of praise and thanksgiving. This book will show you how to talk with God, using Scripture in prayer, and leading you to expand with other thoughts of your own.

The prayer on Day 1 is based upon Psalm 91:1-2: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, ‘My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust.”

The prayer on Day 1 begins this way: “My heart rejoices in You, Lord, for You are my strong shelter in times of trouble and danger and stress, my hiding place to whom I may continually resort…my Father who lovingly provides for me…my Shepherd who guides and protects me . . . . You are my inheritance, my share in life, the One who satisfies my longing soul and fills my hungry soul with goodness.

I praise You for Your love and Your wisdom. You are too wise to ever make a mistake, too loving to ever do anything unkind. You act on my behalf, accomplishing what concerns me and fulfilling Your purpose for me as I call on You. Thank You that You love me deeply and tenderly.  You are compassionate . . . and ready to forgive. . . .  You desire my love . . . .  How precious is Your love to me, O God! I sing for joy as I take refuge in the shadow of Your wings!”

Amen.

I’m so glad Jesus is on the other side of my door now. I’m so glad I’m within the shelter of the Most High. I’m wonder-filled: He in me and I in Him.

*31 Days of Praise (Enjoying God Anew), by Ruth Myers with Warren Myers. Multnomah Publishers, 1994.